"Damn this!" Qiu Ling sat up with a stormy expression. He really wanted to rip the door open, haul that person off, and chop them into mincemeat. "Is this some kind of conspiracy?! How am I supposed to get married like this?! First, it’s that damned kid who dares to seduce my beloved and interrupts us and now someone gets in between again when we’re just getting to the good part!"

He clenched his fists and stood up. But after taking a single step, he reconsidered, hurried back, and leaned down to Jing Yi. "Ah, my love, please be patient. I’ll just go and swat that cumbersome fly. After that, I’ll hurry right back to your side and we can continue, alright?" He Jing Yi a lingering kiss, his expression turning a bit better. "Mn! I’ll be fast!"

He turned around, prepared to open the door, and thrash whoever stood outside without questions asked. But just when he had taken that first step Jing Yi grabbed his clothes.

"Qiu Ling, you—"

"Ah, my love!" Qiu Ling turned around and leaped onto the bed again. "It’s alright. I know you can’t bear to part with me. You feel sad and lonely just thinking about it, isn’t that right?"

"I —"

"I know, I know. You don’t have to say it. I feel the same way." He took Jing Yi’s hand and put it onto his chest, directly above his wildly beating heart. Ah, he had just been a step away from his goal. "You know, actually, why don’t we just ignore that person and continue? The mood was just right, wasn’t it?" He leaned forward and pursed his lips but was met with the oh-so-familiar sensation of a hand in his face.

"I wanted to remind you that you should put on your robe first." Jing Yi obviously wasn’t in the mood anymore. The blush on his cheeks had receded and his voice already sounded normal again. Nothing could be gleaned of the breathless whisper from before.

Qiu Ling felt immensely cheated. He had finally gotten this far but now all his effort had been in vain. "Then … how about I chase him off first and we continue after that?"

His suggestion was met with a no-nonsense expression. Qiu Ling’s head drooped. It really was too late. With his lips pursed he stood up and picked up his outer robe. He put it on with a heavy sigh. Naturally, he didn’t forget to peek at Jing Yi to see if his beloved had changed his opinion yet. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Instead, Jing Yi had closed his inner robe. Now, he hurried to pick up his outer robe too.

Qiu Ling watched with a bleeding heart as Jing Yi got dressed again. Ah, he had just managed to peel him out of these robes and now they were back in place again! Who knew when he would get another chance?

While Qiu Ling lamented over the fact that time and tide waited for no man, Jing Yi made the bed. Even though he seemed calm and collected on the outside, he was completely embarrassed on the inside.

Who knew what that person had heard from outside while they were preparing to … Ah, and then Qiu Ling had shouted all these things. For that visitor to not know what had happened before he’d need to be deaf, dumb, or both. There was no need to talk about how likely that was in a place that was generally considered the first among the demonic cultivation sects.

Qiu Ling finally opened the door and leveled the person on the other side with a dark gaze. His expression fell even more when he saw who it was. "You’re the last person I want to see right now." Not only had he been disturbed, now he even had to look at the ugly face of an old man!

Elder Shan coughed. "You’re extremely lucky —"

"I’m what?!" Qiu Ling flared up again. "Do you have any idea what you’ve inter—"

A slender hand clasped over his mouth and muffled his final words. "Elder Shan!" Jing Yi greeted him hurriedly. "We’re honored you’ve come by. Do you want to come inside and have a seat?"

Elder Shan looked at the youth and took in the red marks on his neck. It seemed he hadn’t heard wrong. He couldn’t understand that remark about marriage though. Well, that wasn’t his business. "No need, no need. I only came by to tell you that the Grandmaster wants to see you."

"Ah?" Jing Yi looked at Qiu Ling and slowly lowered his hand.

Qiu Ling frowned. So the one at fault wasn’t just this Elder but that Grandmaster too. Mn, wait! Wasn’t the Grandmaster his Master? And wasn’t he in the Yun Zou Sect? Why did he want to see him now? And why did this guy know about it?

Qiu Ling still hadn’t learned much about the human world, even though he had traveled around with Jing Yi for a year. He always only took the time to learn about the things he thought Jing Yi might need and the demonic faction had never been on that list. Thus, he didn’t get immediately that Zhangsun Xun Yi wasn’t the only Grandmaster around.

Jing Yi hadn’t paid much attention to the demonic faction either but he had still picked some rumors up since he had had a good relationship with the senior martial brothers and sisters he helped out in the outer sect when he was younger. "You couldn’t be talking about … Grandmaster Shen?"

"Naturally. Who else is there?"

The good faction had quite a few cultivators and practitioners that were eligible for the title of Grandmaster but the demonic faction only had one: Shen An De, the former head of the Hei Dian Sect.

"Why does that guy want to see us now?"

Elder Shan was taken aback. Everyone was always respectful when talking to or about the Grandmaster. He had never seen someone dare to casually dub him 'that guy' or something similar. It seemed the talents these days were getting gutsier. He coughed. "He heard about you. I don’t know more than that. And he only wants to see you, not him."

Qiu Ling frowned even more. That guy had not only had someone interrupt his quality time with his fiance and thus prevented their wedding and blissful marital life, now he wanted to lure him away? His instincts told him that there was some sinister plan behind this!

Jing Yi just patted his back. "You shouldn’t let the Grandmaster wait."

"But what about —"

"It’s alright." Jing Yi tiptoed and gave him a peck. "I’ll wait here and maybe have a look around. We’ll stay here for a long time, after all. We should get used to this place." He thought Qiu Ling would catch onto the fact that he wanted to start on the mission but instead, Qiu Ling’s head drooped.

"Shouldn’t we be doing that together? You won’t have any fun while I’m not around and it’ll be dangerous."

Jing Yi smiled wryly. "Sh. Stop it now and go. The more you hurry, the earlier you’ll be back to spend time with me." He gave him another kiss and finally tried to shove him out of the door.

Qiu Ling sighed. "How about you wait for me inside? I’d be less worried that way."

"Alright, alright. Now, go."

"Mn. I’ll be back soon. No need to worry about me." He hugged Jing Yi and kissed his cheek before finally stepping outside. The door was shut in his face before he could utter the sweet words of farewell he had prepared.

Qiu Ling wanted to say something but Elder Shan coughed. "Disciple, let’s go then. The Grandmaster hasn’t that much time." Honestly, he couldn’t believe that guy was still in the mood to murmur sweet nothings even after he had heard that Grandmaster Shen was waiting for him. Ah, the younglings these days …